The Legendary Mechanic

The mechanical army circled around like crows, releasing streams of energy, wrecking the battlefield. Han Xiao himself changed into one of the Black King series gears and fought intensely with four opponents.

The battle looked ferocious, but Sorokin was actually the only one fighting for real. His three teammates only used about sixty percent of their strength, and Han Xiao was slowly accumulating bonuses.

Beiger could clearly feel that the attacks of Han Xiao's army were several levels weaker than the last time and not as pressurizing as before. He instantly understood that Han Xiao was also holding back.

Han Xiao's strength had rocketed recently. In order to let Sorokin still have hope, he deliberately decreased the damage output of the army to only slightly stronger than the last time he showed his strength in public, creating a situation where both sides were on par.

He was not worried about Sorokin finding out—the two of them had never fought before, so Sorokin's judgement of his strength all came from the information on the internet. Since he had never experienced it for himself, he did not have a clear understanding of how strong Han Xiao was. Han Xiao just had to display about the same amount of strength as the information available to the public said he had, and Sorokin would think it was his actual strength.

Sorokin was indeed quite strong. His soul Esper Ability was very tough to deal with, applying all kinds of debuffs on Han Xiao. Han Xiao did not activate [Kunde Rage] and [Thousand Soul Stream] for the time being, so it was not a breeze for him either. Putting other things aside, Han Xiao estimated that this guy's Energy Rank was above 90,000, undoubtedly in the top tier of the universe.

Sadly, this guy is fragile.

Han Xiao curled his lips in his mind. No matter how incredible the fragile individuals were in terms of combat, they had limits—only tanks had an infinite future.

Sorokin's body was weaker than the average of those around the same Energy Rank as him, but destroying his physical body would not kill him. With [Immortal Soul], [Spiritual Energy Foundation], and other talents, Sorokin's soul was the foundation of his life. His soul could live without a physical body.

Furthermore, Sorokin had the [Fleshly Body Reconstruction] ability. He did not have to infest or take over another's body like Psychics; he could build a new shell for himself with his soul energy any time. To him, physical bodies were just replaceable vessels for his soul; his soul was his original body.

Through the introduction of [Immortal Soul] on the interface, Han Xiao knew that Sorokin was immune to physical attacks when in the soul state, while also having very high resistances, it was very difficult to deal with. Destroying his physical body would only lead to Sorokin entering his 'second phase'.

For that, the trump card he had prepared was the Mark of The Underworld. The Underworld at its peak had a special restraining effect on all souls; it was the arch enemy of souls.

Han Xiao' goal was to find an opportunity to destroy Sorokin's physical body in the blink of an eye, force his soul to be isolated, drag his soul right into the Underworld, and have the experts inside send him up happily.

Meanwhile, Sorokin was also making plans in his mind.

Black Star's strength is about the same as what I predicted. He's indeed strong but not as exaggerated as the rumors say. With this level of strength he has, the success rate of this ambush is higher than planned.

Sorokin felt confident.

Remaining in the passive situation was very disadvantageous for him. Although he had found the Holy Accord's weak spot, his safety was still in their hands. This leverage would only be much more useful once he escaped the Holy Accord's control, or it would only keep him alive and nothing else… The Holy Accord organization indeed did not want to be exposed, but even if they were exposed, they would only get in trouble while he would almost certainly be dead. The scale was unbalanced, so there was not much room for negotiation.

He felt an opportunity to escape might appear the moment the ambush succeeded. However, as a soul Esper, his mobility was awful, and his odds of escaping were too low.

I shall follow the plan and find a chance to capture Black Star first, then improvise from there.

Sorokin focused his thoughts, pressed between his eyes, and sent another few hundred soul energy attacks right toward Han Xiao.

The five of them were all waiting for a chance.

The battle went back and forth for quite some time when, suddenly, Han Xiao's movements became stiff as if he had endured too many soul energy attacks.

"Now!"

Before Sorokin spoke, Beiger suddenly yelled in the group chat and took over the heavy responsibility of setting the tempo.

Intense magic energy erupted from all over his body. Control type spells he had been preparing all this time flew out rapidly and all landed on Han Xiao.

The other Beyond Grade As followed instantly and threw out all their control type abilities together.

Ohm!

Energy of all colors and forms tangled around him, seemingly fixing him in midair, unable to move.

Seeing the opportunity, Sorokin followed up right away. With his eyes wide open, energy shockwaves that almost materialized were launched rapidly one after another, penetrating Han Xiao's body, instantly applying all kinds of debuffs on him.

The next moment, Beiger raised his hand. A teleportation circle appeared on the battlefield, and dozens of Beyond Grade As swarmed out instantly, all holding onto charged attacks prepared long ago, ready to launch them at Han Xiao.

However, at this time, Han Xiao's body shook. He seemingly used some kind of ability to escape from all the control abilities.

He actually did not do anything; Beiger and the other two secretly deactivated their abilities.

As for Sorokin's abilities, he gained immunity to the tons of debuffs by activating [Kunde Rage] in advance and was not affected at all.

Even the opportunity was sold by Han Xiao; Beiger only cooperated following the script discussed in the actors group chat and made Sorokin mistakenly think the opportunity had come when it was actually Han Xiao's signal.

The sudden change happened in a fraction of a second. Before Sorokin could react, Han Xiao immediately used Void Hyperdrive after he was freed and appeared right before Sorokin. He then pressed Sorokin into his wide arms.

"You…"

Shock appeared on Sorokin's face. It was as if a huge red "DANGER" appeared above his head.

Before he finished his sentence, the dozens of Beyond Grade As attacked the two of them instantly!

The mechanical army also turned to fire at the two of them, this time, at full output!

Han Xiao activated all his explosive abilities directly followed by Virtual Soul to restrain Sorokin. The two of them stood still and watched countless attacks approaching rapidly.

The next second, the two of them were submerged by a blinding light.

Hong!

The attacks turned into a cluster of rapidly expanding energy, sweeping in all directions. The horrifying energy almost robbed the senses of everyone present, and all they could see was white.

Hu!

The cluster of light expanded to the maximum and exploded abruptly. The energy shockwave erupted from the center and blew away everything around.

The light dissipated quickly. Han Xiao was the only one left, covered in wounds that were gushing blood nonstop like a water bag with dozens of holes. He was clearly severely injured.

The attacks of dozens of Beyond Grade As' trump cards and the mechanical army dealt the most terrifying amount of damage to Han Xiao he had ever experienced. The [Perfect Energy Affinity Physique] and [Proof of Leadership] were the reasons he survived. Plus, Han Xiao wore the 'Defense Gear' of the Black King series. Though already completely shattered, it still blocked tons of damage. Otherwise, he might have had to use the revive token.

As for Sorokin, his physical body had been blown to atoms in the explosion.

Someone else would have completely died in this situation, but for Sorokin, this was only him entering his second phase!

Streams of light suddenly illuminated in front of Han Xiao, forming a glowing green energy entity with Sorokin's appearance.

At the same time, a mind message sounded in Han Xiao's mind.

"The attack worked… Looks like your Indestructible Body isn't really eternally indestructible."

Sorokin was secretly glad.

Luckily, the foundation of his survival was not his physical body. When his soul separated from his body, there was a moment his soul was in the phased invincible state, or that round of attacks would also have heavily damaged him. As for now, his soul was at the peak state.

One more round and Black Star will definitely be dead!

Without hesitation, Sorokin launched a chain of soul shockwaves onto Han Xiao, attempting to stop Han Xiao from escaping with the King.

Then, he backed away immediately through Han Xiao's arms, planning to increase the distance between the two of them. At the same time, he yelled in the mission channel for others to use this opportunity to launch another round of attacks.

However, as Sorokin was about to back off, Han Xiao raised and shoved his hand into Sorokin's soul. The Mark of The Underworld on the back of his palm instantly lit up, and an astonishingly strong absorption force erupted from it.

"What is this‽"

Sorokin was stunned. This mark felt like a vortex. His soul suddenly went out of his control. Before he could do anything, an irresistible force dragged him inside.

"I got him!" Han Xiao spit out a mouth of boiling blood and grinned.

These changes seemed like they had taken a very long time to occur, when actually it all happened in an extremely short amount of time. If not because all of the Holy Accord cooperated and held back, he would not have been able to defeat Sorokin so easily.

However, only half of the plan succeeded. The problem was not yet completely solved.

"Follow me!"

Han Xiao put on the King while at the same time throwing out a few extras at Oathkeeper and a few other Beyond Grade As who were experts in the soul territory.

The mechanical suit latched onto them automatically. The next moment, Han Xiao shot out a few streams of Mechanical Force and activated the Kings on all of them.

With a flash of light, they disappeared.

…

Plop!

Sorokin felt the world was spinning. He fell onto a black stone ground.

At this time, the unknown energy that pulled his soul only finally faded. Sorokin flew up immediately and observed his surroundings cautiously. He had no idea where Black Star had sent him.

His eyes scanned through the boisterous land. An odd sense of familiarity surfaced in his mind.

Suddenly, Sorokin suddenly remembered something. His soul trembled, and his expression changed drastically.

"Is this the… Underworld‽"

As a Primordial One from the exploration era, he had also heard of the two sisters and was no stranger to the existence of the Underworld.

The only thing left in Sorokin's heart was disbelief.

Aren't the two sisters dead? How does the Underworld still exist‽

Why did Black Star send me here‽

While he was being appalled, Onicelu appeared before him out of thin air and gave him an odd smile that made him feel threatened.

"Sh*t!"

Sorokin had no time to think carefully. He hastily rushed up the sky hoping to flee from the Underworld.

If this was another secondary dimension, he would not have been so afraid. However, all Primordial Ones knew that all independent souls were severely countered by the Underworld.

The Underworld was the nemesis of all souls! A forbidden ground feared by all soul life forms!

Onicelu remained in the same place and did not chase after Sorokin, all she did was extend her arm, aimed at Sorokin who was getting further away and tightened her fist.

Buzz!

The Underworld moved according to her will. A mysterious force suddenly appeared, pressing all Hero Spirits in the Underworld onto the ground.

Underworld—Soul Restrain!

The Underworld had recovered to its peak. Onicelu was a professional at dealing with souls!

Even though Sorokin's soul was extremely unique and had Beyond Grade A combat capability, his flight speed still decreased by ninety percent, and his altitude continued to decrease.

With the same smile on her face, Onicelu performed a 'pull' gesture.

Underworld—Soul Arrest!

Thick Underworld energy flowed out from the black ground, turning into countless tentacles that shot up the sky and ensnared Sorokin, trying to pull him down.

Although souls could penetrate all kinds of physical objects, they could not penetrate the energy of the Underworld and would instead be stuck. Sorokin used all his strength to try to escape from the tentacles but could only just keep himself from being dragged down further.

Hu!

At this time, a red tornado rose on the horizon, and Hila appeared. She had been waiting there since long ago.

"It's you!"

Sorokin was astonished. His soul was not immune to soul attacks; Hila happened to counter him.

"Go down!"

Hila waved her hand. Death energy gushed out like a raging river and brushed Sorokin's soul down.

Sorokin fell onto the black ground. Onicelu moved her index finger, and chains formed by Underworld energy extended from the underground. They penetrated Sorokin's soul and locked him down in multiple layers.

While Sorokin was clenching his teeth and trying to escape, a group of people suddenly appeared before him. It was Han Xiao, Oathkeeper, and the others who arrived by the Kings' teleportation. They all took off the mechanical suits.

Seeing this, Han Xiao smiled. "Looks like you had a fun time with my friends."

Seeing Oathkeeper and Han Xiao appearing together, Sorokin was completely dumbfounded.

At this moment, he understood everything.

"You guys are on the same side‽"

Sorokin was filled with rage and shock. Without hesitation, he immediately tried to contact his manifestation and expose all their secrets.

However, he was dumbfounded once again the next second.

His connections with his manifestations were all cut off!

"Why do you think I spent so much effort to get you in here? In here, unless approved by the Underworld's consciousness, no one can send soul signals to the outside world. Oathkeeper could not block your ability with absolute certainty, but the Underworld can."

Han Xiao lightly stepped on the black stone ground under his feet.

"After all… the initial function of the Underworld was a prison!"